1.10.2011

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

What if you had only one day to live? What would youdo? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend.Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead,it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, shere-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by makingeven the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had everimagined.

Wow...just wow. Before I Fall takes you on a wild emotional ride, and you'll never be sure what exactly to feel while you're reading it.

Sam, a shy girl turned popular, dies in a drunken car accident with her best friends. Suddenly though, she wakes up in her bed, and it's yesterday. She’s given a chance to live the same day seven times to see if she can change the outcome, and finds out more about herself, her friends, and just who she loves, than she thought she knew before.

First, I loved the concept of Before I Fall. I bought it because of Brent’s crazy love for it but also because it reminded me of The Everafter by Amy Huntley, one of the first books I reviewed. There’s not much ‘after death’ YA books out there, but the ones that, are usually amazing. Before I Fall was no expection. While Sam was striving to save her own life, she was discovering a lot about herself and the type of person she was.

Sam was a truly realistic character. She was superficial at times, selfish at others, but also she was trying hard to be a good person. And that’s how people are. She knew what her friends did was wrong, making fun of people and being the “mean girls”, but she did it anyway because she wanted to fit in. But over time, she realized that that she wasn’t who she was. I liked how the relavation came out over time, she didn’t do the right thing the first try, or not even the third! It takes a while to change your point of view, people!

Finally, I looooved Sam and Kent. Oh, he just made me swoon and they were incredibly sweet together. Again, I liked how she didn’t jump at him on the first try, and it took her a while a realize exactly how she felt for him instead of going to her jerk boyfriend again and again. Each of her friends were well-rounded and 3D, and while I didn’t exactly want to be friends with Lindsey, she was complex and I loved that. Elody and Addy were nice and fun and the ending left me shedding a few tears in the middle of my math class. Excellent.